Rolystone resident concerned over kangaroo deaths and nuisance dogs

A SPATE of attacks on kangaroos has prompted Roleystone resident Nikki Wilson to speak out about the need to consider animal welfare.

Mrs Wilson was outraged by four incidents last week when she found evidence kangaroos and joeys had been attacked by dogs or hit by cars and left on the side of the road.

On Monday morning, just after 6am, she discovered a kangaroo with a joey in its pouch lying on her driveway.

Too distraught to approach the kangaroo, she phoned her husband, who had left for work an hour earlier, to come home and make sure it was dead. Mrs Wilson believed the person who hit and killed the kangaroo had dragged it onto her driveway and left without checking it or notifying anyone.

She made a sign expressing her anger and put it up at the end of her driveway in the hope that the perpetrator would see it and think twice about doing the same thing again.

But on the same day, her neighbours informed her a dead joey they discovered on their property had been the victim of a dog attack.

The next day, Mrs Wilson saw a big black dog chasing two joeys near her property and had to stop it from attacking them.

On Thursday, the same dog and another were out running around and a leg of a kangaroo ended up on her driveway.

‘It was an absolute nightmare,’ she said.

‘People need to keep their dogs contained and on a leash.’

‘The worst thing is, on October 4, I saw a lady walking a dog, which chased a joey.

‘I’m devastated that I didn’t complain then, because we might have saved another kangaroo.’

Mrs Wilson wanted people to realise the need to keep their dogs contained and to contact the Wildlife Helpline on 9474 9055 if they hit and injure an animal.

City of Armadale chief executive Ray Tame said rangers received a complaint about a kangaroo being chased by a dog and advised the resident to contact the Department of Parks and Wildlife, which is responsible for kangaroos.

Mr Tame said it was an isolated incident and there had not been a spate of attacks on kangaroos by dogs in Araluen, but the number of kangaroos was increasing and causing conflict with local traffic.